The Central Military Commission (CMC) is the supreme military leadership body of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC), which heads the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the People's Armed Police (PAP), and the Militia. There are technically two separate commissions; the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party and the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China, though under an arrangement termed "one institution with two names", they function as a single institution.
The CCP first established a military department in 1925. The CCP Central Revolutionary Military Commission was established in 1937, which later evolved to the Central Military Commission in 1945. After the proclamation of the People's Republic of China, in 1949, military leadership was transferred to the People's Revolutionary Military Commission of the Central People's Government; there was no separate CCP organ during this time. In 1954, the CCP Central Military Commission was re-established, while state military authority was transferred to the National Defense Commission. In 1975, during the Cultural Revolution, the NDC was abolished, leaving the Party CMC as the sole governing body of the military. In 1982, the State Central Military Commission was established in order to formalize its role within the government structure. In 2016, a series of institutional reforms of the CMC bodies was undertaken, with PLA'S four general departments being replaced by 15 departments that report directly to the CMC.
Aside from periods of transition, both commissions have identical personnel, organization and functions. The commission's parallel hierarchy allows the CCP to supervise the political and military activities of the PLA, including issuing directives on senior appointments, troop deployments and arms spending. The CMC is chaired by Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and paramount leader. Almost all the members are senior generals or admirals, but the chairmanship has always been held by the party's most senior leaders (who are civilians under the principle that "the Party commands the gun") to ensure the loyalty of the armed forces. The chairman has absolute leadership over the commission per the chairman responsibility system. The CMC has 15 general departments and the five theater commands, through which it oversees each of the service branches of the PLA. The CMC is housed in the Ministry of National Defense compound (August 1st Building) in western Beijing.